Last day in Paradise

Friday, April 08, 2011
Waikiki, Hawaii, United States
All good things must come to an end and the same goes for our lovely holiday in Hawaii.

We have a late check out so we didn't have to rush about . Having waved bye-bye to our chums who were on their way to the Big Island, we visited a couple more historic sites. The first was the Kawaiaha’o Church which was completed in 1842 near the Royal Palace and was the first permanent Western house of worship in the islands. The walls are made out of 1000-lb blocks of coral but, to be honest, it didn’t look that different to stone.

The interior reminded us of churches in New England but with the addition of portraits of Hawaiian royalty. King Lunalilo is buried in a rather whimsical mausoleum in the grounds because we wanted to be near his people (and far away from the rest of the Royal Family !) Then off we went to the Aloha Tower. It was opened 1926 for the then outrageous sum of $160,000.  It is184-ft high and has a clock face on each side with the word Aloha underneath each. It would have been the first thing seen by travellers arriving by ship. The surrounding area is now full of shops and restaurants.

Time to go to the airport, drop off the car and get on the planes for the long journey home. It’s been great and we hope to be able to visit these beautiful islands again.

Comments

Etsuko
2011-04-09

Muchas gracias por vuestro reportaje. ¡Qué envidia!

Rob de Koning
2011-04-09

I know how you feel. After a short time the place feels like home
and the only way to deal with it is by telling yourself repeatedly that you'll be coming back soon. I'm very glad for you both that you had the chance to go and see it all with your own very eyes. Thanks again for the daily updates. It's been fascinating and very interesting indeed. Tot gauw!

2025-02-16

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